Best Life

Chapter 8

Adam

I'm really looking forward to seeing the guys. My weekends off are few and far between. Sam is staying over at Jane's tonight so I'm relaxed about having a few drinks, playing pool at Clix and talking some shit with my best friends. Work has been so busy and my responsibilities at home never let up. But I wouldn't change a thing about my life. Sam is my world and I am hers. We are happy. Content. Just us.

Zac, Carter, Rhett and Jake are already at the bar. I say hi to Lizzy and give her a friendly wave. My brain immediately goes to Katie. I wonder if she'll keep her promise and be here tonight. Perhaps we'll be able to pick up from our chat at the park and continue our conversation. To be honest my track record with speaking anything coherent when she's around kind of sucks. She's amazingly sexy and confident and renders me almost useless when I'm anywhere near her. I can't deny the attraction and my desire to get to know her better is only getting stronger.

"Heyyyy the big man is finally here!" shouts Zac from the pool tables.

Bro hugs and handshakes all round for this bunch of guys. They have been a steady rock in my life through lots of ups and downs. They sure give me shit about my almost non-existent social life but they still respect and understand my responsibilities at home, so they never push it too far. I did tell Zac about Katie so he's eager to meet her and see what's got me excited. It's been a long time since I had any sort of connection with a woman, so he knows that this is a big fucking deal for me. I just hope I don't fuck it up.

"My shout. Who's up for a beer?" I ask. Stupid question with this lot. A round of vodka shots and beers to get the night started. Perfect.

A few rounds of pool in, the drinks are flowing and I'm relaxed and happy. The door to Clix swings open and I glance over to see who walked in.
Holy shit.
It's her.
She came.
She looks hot.
Like.
Hot.

My mouth drops open, the blood runs from my face straight to my dick. God damn it, get it together Adam, what am I, fifteen years old? I don't want to just fucking ogle her so I look back to the boys at the pool table. Fucking hell. They're all ogling her. I don't like that. Not one fucking bit.

"Hey shitheads. Who's turn is it?"

The distraction works and they get back to the game at hand and Carter goes to get the next round. Katie goes around the bar and gives her sister a hug. They're close, I can tell. Like Sam and me. I don't know anything about their family but I get the feeling they rely on each other a lot. Carter brings our beers over. My turn to sit out this round of pool. Katie is standing at the end of the bar chatting with Lizzy. Tight black mini skirt, white shirt, black leather jacket. Fuck. As if she couldn't get any sexier, I spot the tattoo peaking out from her short as skirt and fuck me, I can see more swirling up her neck as well. I didn't see that at the park but it was probably the side facing away from me.
Breath.

We decide it was time to eat so we head for the booth.

"Hey again." I mentally face palm myself - smooth Adam.

"Hi," short but not a total shut down. Progress.

"Wanna join us for a bite?" I nod back to the booth.
She looks at Lizzy.
Lizzy cocks an eyebrow.
Katie rolls her eyes.
Sisterly love.

"Yeh, sure. That's be good."

I refrain from a victory dance but I sure felt like I'd won...well something.
She slips into the booth next to Rhett and I slid in next to her. I make the introductions all round and she hits it off with the boys straight away. I gotta say that pissed me off a bit - was I the exception? Our first time meeting she ran out when I just offered to shake her hand and say hi. Now she was all chummy with the boys in five seconds flat. She nudges my arm as she slips out of the leather jacket and holy hell...

Chummy with who.
What?
I can't think.
She's cast a spell on me, I'm sure of it.
The tattoo.
It also snakes all the way down her arm. All vines and leaves and a rose or two. It's utterly mesmerising. She catches me staring and smiles shyly. Holy hell again. I start to wonder if it's one big tattoo from her thigh up to her neck and everything in between. I lick my dry lips. My breathing is heavy but I manage to reign it in for now. My imagination is...well...not helping.

We all had a great night. I made sure I was as close to her as much as possible. Partnered up to play pool, got her drinks from the bar, made sure I was seated next to her in our booth. We touched incidentally a few times and we both felt it. Good to know it wasn't just me effected. She started smiling more. She even laughed. God damn that was a beautiful sound. I asked her about her tattoo again but she clearly didn't want to tell me about it. All good. I just smiled. She gave me a funny look.

Rhett and Jake gave me a few elbow nudges and smiles throughout the night. There's no fooling them about what was going on in my head...and elsewhere. Perhaps it was time to give this a chance, hell it had been so long since I allowed myself to be vulnerable. But I do know one thing for sure.

I definitely want her.